More

Another batch of the riskiest mortgage-backed securities once owned by the American International Group are being auctioned off this week, according to two people familiar with the matter, a sale that would bring the insurance giant’s 2008 meltdown once step closer to a resolution.

Stephen Hester has revealed that the dramatic restructuring of Royal Bank of Scotland has cost 38 billion pounds ($60.5 billion) in a rallying memo to staff days after the embattled chief executive waived a 1 million pounds bonus, the Financial Times reports.

London is home to some of the world's most opulent hotels, but with five-star rooms in short supply during the Olympic Games this summer; wealthy visitors are increasingly turning to private homes to meet their accommodation needs.

Britain's dominant services sector expanded at the fastest pace in 10 months in January and firms grew much more optimistic, a survey showed on Friday, crowning a raft of data this week that raised hopes the economy may avoid recession.

As bonus season in the City of London gets underway in earnest next week the first of the UK’s major banks, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), announced the bonus package for its chief executive Stephen Hester on Thursday evening and immediately came in for criticism.

The British economy shrank by 0.2 percent in the final quarter of 2011, taking the annual growth figure for 2011 down to 0.8 percent, official figures published on Wednesday showed, adding to fears the economy is falling into a double - dip recession.

The governor of the Bank of England said he would be willing to implement further rounds of asset purchases – also known as quantitative easing - in an effort to rebalance the UK economy and issued a stark warning to the financial sector ahead of bonus season in the City of London.

David Cameron’s pledge to curb executive pay and stop “rewards for failure” is set to face its biggest test, as Royal Bank of Scotland prepares to offer a bonus of more than £1 million ($1.54 million) to its chief executive, even though the state-controlled bank’s share price has almost halved in a year, the Financial Times reports.

The UK’s fraud investigator intends to confiscate shareholder dividends paid by companies convicted of criminal offences, after it won approval for a landmark court action, the Financial Times reports.